Michael Sheen has spoken about re-enacting the infamous Newsnight interview between Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew for his new Prime Video drama with Ruth Wilson.
The three episodes of A Very Royal Scandal follow the lead-up to the 2019 interview and the aftermath, with the second central episode focusing on the pivotal hour-long interview itself.
Sheen, who plays Prince Andrew in the new drama, spoke exclusively to Digital Spy about filming the groundbreaking interview in long takes, which were both "exhausting" and "thrilling".
It was one of the few times on the drama that the Good Omens star worked with Ruth Wilson, who plays Emily Maitlis, and they shot the scenes over a couple of days.
He said: "We had put so much work into it. The research and the studying of it and the talking about it, so that it felt like the stakes were very high. Knowing that the interview itself is the heart of the piece and so much comes out of that – it's about building up to it and then about the aftermath."
In the drama, the interview plays out in interwoven segments throughout the second episode. Given that it was "chopped up", Sheen said he and Wilson felt they should run the takes of the interview for as long as they could.
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"The first few times we did any filming on the interview, each take was about 19-20 minutes long," Sheen said. "For anyone who doesn't know how the process works, that's incredibly long for a take.
"So there was a real crackle in the air when we were doing it. It was thrilling. It was exhausting. By the time we finished each take, it was like having come off stage doing a play. But it was amazing. I will never forget what it was like doing those early takes of that."
A Very Royal Scandal premieres on September 19 on Prime Video.
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Previously Deputy TV Editor at Digital Spy and, before that, a TV Reporter at The Mirror, Rebecca can now be found crafting expert analysis of the TV landscape, when she's not talking on the BBC or Times Radio about everything from the latest season of Bridgerton or The White Lotus to whatever chaos is unfolding in the various Love Island villas. When she's not bingeing a boxset, in-the-wild sightings of Rebecca have included stints on the National TV Awards and BAFTAs red carpets, and post-match video explainers of the reality TV we're all watching.
